Ada Fisher, influential Black Republican in NC, dies at 74

Dr. Ada Fisher, a retired physician who was one of North Carolina's members on the Republican National Committee for over a decade, has died at age 74, a funeral home said Tuesday.

Fisher, who gained prominence as a Black Republican who pushed for more diversity within the GOP, died Friday in Salisbury, according to Fisher Memorial Funeral Parlor in Durham. Christopher C. Fisher, a parlor staff member and Ada Fisher's nephew, didn't immediately have information on a cause of death.

Ada Fisher also was known for her no-nonsense conservative views and her early support for former President Donald Trump. Fisher made the 2016 announcement on the Republican National Convention floor that gave 29 delegate votes to Trump.

A Durham native who earned advanced degrees from the University of Wisconsin and John Hopkins University, Fisher entered politics after a career as a practicing physician in both family practice and corporate settings. She settled in Salisbury.

Fisher, who was once a board member for the Rowan-Salisbury schools district, ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2002. She also ran for the U.S. House, losing to Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., in the 2004 and 2006 general elections.

State GOP activists elected Fisher as an RNC committeewoman in 2008 and she remained in the position until 2020.

"Dr. Ada Fisher was an incredible woman and an NCGOP institution who fought harder than anyone to support the party and advance conservative principles," U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., wrote in a tweet Monday.

Many of her views were expressed in opinion pieces within The Salisbury Post, which continued running up until last month.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete Tuesday.